Brain Health

Dopamine Deficiency Part III: Solutions

Liz James · January 25, 2022 ·

Discussing solutions is one of my favorite topics to write about, but if we didn’t first identify root causes, how would what we are doing be any different than the tendency to bandage a festering abscess? Solutions can be clues all on their own too, right? I ask that you be mindful of three things while navigating and identifying ways to improve and support healthy dopamine levels:

Would I be prone to developing an addictive tendency to something I already particularly enjoy? (Too much of a good thing makes it not necessarily a good thing.)

Am I willing to step outside of my comfort zone in the pursuit of happiness and improved dopamine balance in the body?

There is no magic “one hit wonder”. Lifestyle is where the sweet spot lies….. Just as it took every single person doing their part in rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem (read Nehemiah 3 sometime!), it takes symphonic effort to succeed in body balance! Now, on to the fun stuff!

Exercise: Exercise slows the breakdown of dopamine in the body, and helps prevent loss of dopaminergic brain cells. You may have heard of the “runner’s high”. There are several neurotransmitters involved in this sensation of feeling great, and dopamine is one of them. The brain is literally washed with dopamine in these moments. If strenuous exercise is new to you, start with walking, yoga, pilates, or aquatic exercise. Mild exercise causes dopamine release too. Bonus points for exercise outdoors and with a group of friends!

Learn something new: Learning a new skill (language, hobby, sport, or activity) or simply learning new information causes dopamine to be released. It’s very likely happening right now as you read this information! You’ve heard of “seminar highs” or research junkies (yep, this is one area I receive a huge dopamine dump from!). When the dopamine release happens, it makes you want to learn more and repeat the experience. Bonus points…. The more you engage in learning new things, the stronger your brain gets too!

Vitamin D: Vitamin D has a role in the production of dopamine and in also protecting dopamine receptors. Evidence suggests that supporting healthy Vitamin D levels also supports healthy dopamine levels, especially if clinically deficient in Vitamin D. Make sure to ask for Vitamin D levels whenever you have the opportunity to get labwork! Young Living’s Super D is most bioavailable when it is dissolved in the cheek or under the tongue.

Phenylalanine and tyrosine are two amino acids used in the biosynthesis of dopamine. Foods high in phenylalanine and/or tyrosine include meats, beans, milk, nuts, seeds, whole grains, sweet potatoes, bananas, apples, cherries, eggs, yogurt, and NingXia Wolfberries! Supporting healthy dopamine production is just one more reason to get your ounce or two (or four!) of NingXia Red every day!

Increasing Vagal Tone: There is a direct correlation between low vagal tone and lower levels of dopamine. You’ll want to go back and review ALL the wonderful and fun ways you can improve vagal tone! (We talked about this a few months ago….use the search option in this group to find the posts.)

Uridine is a supplement. It’s also found in beer, brewer’s yeast and nutritional yeast. Nutritional yeast is not the same yeast that bakers use. If you do a little digging, you’ll find recipes incorporating nutritional yeast into tasty options.

Here’s a quick recipe for Caesar Salad Dressing:1 & ½ cups extra virgin olive oil¾ cup coconut milk½ avocadoJuice of one lemon1 tsp balsamic vinegar3 cloves of garlic2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast¾ tsp sea salt or pink saltA toothpick swirl or two of Young Living oregano vitality essential oil (1 drop might be WAY strong!)½ tsp onion powder(Use organic ingredients whenever possible). Put all ingredients (except olive oil) into a blender and blend til smooth. Slowly add in olive oil while blender is running at low speed. Stores up to one week in the fridge. Note: may also be used for a dipping sauce!

Cryotherapy: You’ve seen advertisements for it I’m sure. Be brave and consider giving it a try! Remember, simply exploring something new increases dopamine in the brain. Ice water immersion (or cryotherapy tanks) increase dopamine by an estimated 250%! Yowza! I am a fan of cryo….. I find it both terrifying and exhilarating (probably from that ginormous dopamine dump I received!)

Intermittent Fasting not only leads to higher levels of dopamine release; it also reduces age related dopamine receptor attrition. There are many additional reasons to incorporate intermittent fasting into your lifestyle if you’ve not considered it before now.

Curcumin is the yellow pigment found in turmeric. Curcumin reduces the metabolism of dopamine in the brain thereby increasing levels. YL Golden Turmeric or Spiced Turmeric Vitality Tea for the win! You might also consider adding Golden Turmeric to yogurt or smoothies!We’re about halfway through this pretty amazing dopamine support list! Next week we’ll wrap up with more simple and inexpensive ways to support this happy hormone.

xoxo, liz #caringissharing #knowbetterdobetter #dopamineisdope #balanceddopamineisgoodmedicine #goodmedicine #BecomingYourOwnHealthDetective#ThanksYL

Happy New Year love Young Living Gifts!

Liz James · January 1, 2022 ·

Happy New Year Friends!
Have you begun thinking about what 2022 is going to look like for you and your family this year? Mindset is EVERYTHING as you walk through life. It will even mean the difference between how you view success and failure. My dad (who passed away in 2013) intuitively grasped this concept and lived it. He would willingly talk about his failures in life and in business…… but he could always find the positive personal growth he gained even when he failed at something. When I was a young adult, and and lamenting the struggle of the drama or trauma I was going through at the time, he would say,
“This is life 101 (or 201 or 301…. depending on the severity of the situation). Imagine how much money, time, and energy you would have paid in college to gain the lesson you’ve just learned. You got this education at an accelerated rate. (In some cases, I would feel like I had just got a crash 4yr degree in economics or psychology or human behavior. ) Now, don’t waste what you’ve gone through. Use that education and find all the benefits you just got from this experience.”
This life lesson is among the top 5 pieces of wisdom my dad gifted me. Life 101. We can’t avoid life lessons, so we might as well learn from them!
Young Living is giving us tools to help us as we use what we’ve learned in past years to make a difference in our lives this year.
Freebie Tools! Are you going to take advantage of receiving $196.72 in educational tools this month? I am!
🌿When my concentration stinks, I’ll incorporate Cedarwood, Peppermint, and Rosemary into my day.
🌿If I’ve let my immune system get puny and I need respiratory support, I’ll reach for Rosemary, Eucalyptus Radiata, Tea Tree, and Peppermint.
🌿 If I’m feeling sluggish both emotionally and physically, I’ll grab Grapefruit, Lime, and Peppermint.
🌿 Should I need a little help relaxing and unwinding at night, I’ll grab my Lime, Lavender and Cedarwood to create a diffuser blend.
If you’ve been around, you already know that these 8 oils have hundreds of potential uses. ( no exaggeration!)…. every single essential oil we have access to does. Are you spending a little time each month learning how to maximize the benefits of the oils you already have on hand? Letting them sit and gather dust unused would be like buying a computer and then leaving it in the box on your desk.
Is this your year to take back control of your health? If so, reach out to someone who has been walking the Young Living lifestyle ahead of you. Learn as you go. Don’t quit. Learn from your victories and your boo-boo’s ( try a little lavender if that boo-boo is a physical one, tho it often works on emotional boo-boo’s too 😉 )
Maybe your goal this year is to hop back into community? We’re here and we’re always doing something, and we’d love to have you join us!
Perhaps your goal is to have a little extra money💰 … enough to pay for your YL box of health, a car payment, or a special date night occasionally? Talk to someone you know who has chosen to help others help themselves the Young Living way.
2022 is going to be whatever you make of it! Make this YOUR YEAR to shine, grow, and live abundantly!
xoxo~ liz
www.goodmedicine.info (Complimentary 30 minute initial coaching sessions are always available to kickstart your health journey!)
#sharingiscaring
#wellnesspurposeabundance
#ThanksYL
#agoodmindsetisgoodmedicine

Vagal Nerve – part 1

Liz James · December 8, 2021 ·

A policeman is on the trail of a very successful serial robber. Using the clues🔎 left behind at each crime scene, he finally identifies the robber and apprehends him. The only problem is that the robberies don’t stop, and they look strikingly similar to the original set of robberies. Now the policeman believes one of two things…… a copycat thief has emerged, or the original robber was actually working under the direction of a kingpin, and he was only one of the minions leaving the clues 🔎behind at each crime scene. The original robber isn’t talking, so the policeman must continue his investigation.
👆Sometimes that’s exactly what being a health detective can feel like!
Every body system affects the others, and clues that are viewed as “the problem” may be just one identifiable member affecting the health “crime scene”. Or perhaps, like the copycat robber, the clue (ex: anxiety) has more than one root cause to identify and correct.
Chronic stress may have seemed rather innocent until the truth of its ability to damage the body was unpacked in the last topic discussion. It is a kingpin. Another kingpin in the body is the state of health of the vagus nerve and there are a myriad of clues associated with this VIP portion of the nervous system.
The vagus nerve is the longest cranial nerve, extending from the brainstem to the colon. It is responsible for the “rest and digest” activity of the heart, lungs, and digestive tract, with quite a few additional responsibilities added in for good measure. Some of its major contributing functions include:
⭐️Regulation of appetite
⭐️Control of bowel movements
⭐️Regulating heart rhythm
⭐️Stimulating gastric juice production
⭐️Regulating sweating
⭐️Regulating breathing
⭐️Controlling inflammation response
⭐️Encouraging testosterone production
⭐️Stimulating growth hormone (In adults, this is important for retaining muscle mass, strength, prevention of osteoporosis, concentration, preventing memory loss, and even slowing balding)
⭐️Regulating mood and emotions
⭐️Promoting healthy kidney and bladder function
⭐️Lowering and controlling blood sugar concentrations
⭐️Triggering the release of melatonin
⭐️Stimulating the body’s relaxation response allowing a more rapid recovery from stress, injury, or illness
⭐️Encouraging the storage of strong memories in the amygdala (which is essential for bonding and connecting with others relationally)
The vagus nerve also sends sensory information (on what we see, feel, taste, and hear) to the brain, and is intimately involved as a courier of information allowing the microbiome (the gut bacteria) to directly communicate with the brain. You might have heard of this referred to as the gut brain axis. This is extremely important because many of our neurotransmitters (especially serotonin and oxytocin…. two that contribute to the state of happiness) are directly affected by this feedback.
Having a low or poor vagal tone has a profound effect on the body. Clues pointing to possible vagus nerve dysfunction include:
🔎IBS, Ulcerative colitis, and Crohn’s Disease
🔎Obesity, weight gain or weight loss
🔎Chronic fatigue
🔎Depression
🔎Irregular heartbeat (both too fast or too slow)
🔎Stomach ulcers
🔎Chronic inflammation
🔎Gastroparesis (slowed movement of food from the stomach to the small intestine)
🔎Difficulty speaking, hoarse, or wheezy voice
🔎Pain in the ear
🔎Unusual heart rate
🔎Loss of gag reflex
🔎Chronic abdominal bloating or pain, nausea or vomiting
🔎Anxiety
🔎Brain fog
🔎Dizziness
🔎Frequent headaches / migraines
🔎Insomnia
🔎Frequent urination
🔎Poor glucose control
🔎Food sensitivities
🔎Chronic feelings of disconnectedness or loneliness (Interesting, right? )
Common Causes of vagus nerve damage include:
🔥Chronic alcohol abuse
🔥Chronic stress / anxiety (Please revisit the information on ways to combat stress effectively!)
🔥Braces or extensive dental work (Revisit the post on the effect teeth have on the entire body)
🔥Posture (Revisit the clues related to posture.)
🔥Complications resulting from surgeries (especially those affecting the small intestine or stomach)
🔥Viral infections which are upper respiratory system focused
🔥Aging
🔥Botox injections
🔥Heavy metal toxicity (Heavy metals can be found in tooth fillings, vaccines, environmental contaminants, and even makeup. Young Living’s Savvy Minerals is a safe, beautiful and clean alternative! )
🔥Certain medications that affect the nervous system, including opioids, stimulants (ex: ADHD medications), immunosuppressants, sedatives, and many other prescription and OTC drugs. This is one more reason to identify and incorporate lifestyle changes whenever possible to avoid chronic drug use. Every single medication exerts a negative effect outside its intended target.
The vagus nerve is a key player in living a life of resiliency.🙌 It will come as no surprise that people with high vagal tone have lower incidence of diabetes, strokes, and cardiovascular diseases. They also tend to find it easier to relax😴 after stressful situations, are physiologically 💪stronger, happier, more empathetic, better able to concentrate and remember, and are more likely to have close relationships with others👫. Vagal tone is kind of a big deal! Luckily for all of us, there are some really fun and practical ways to show the vagus nerve a little extra TLC on the regular.
Test your gag reflex sometime soon. (Use a spoon handle and gently tickle the back of the throat on both sides. If you don’t have a gag response to the spoon handle, you’ve got some work to do😉!).
Next week I’ll cover simple ways to incorporate vagal TLC techniques into daily life. It’s important to keep the vagal nerve happy and healthy!
xoxo~ liz
www.goodmedicine.info
#sharingiscaring
#caringforyourvagusnerveisgoodmedicine
#healthdetective
#goodmedicine
#thanksYL

STRESS – part 3

Liz James · November 30, 2021 ·

Chronic Stress Part III : Solutions
Today’s post is full of butterflies, kittens🐱, and unicorns (Literally!). That’s a welcome change, I’m sure, considering the sobering long term ramifications of unmitigated chronic stress we’ve talked about these past few weeks. Chronic stress usually creeps in on very soft feet, so consider taking a few minutes to answer this simple yes/no “day to day stress assessment”:

stress assessment

Coping with stress involves two steps:
1️⃣Recognizing the signs and symptoms of EARLY burnout and stress (you’ve got the tools now!)
2️⃣Activating any or all of the self care tools below.
Now, here’s the fun part….. Giving yourself some self care time by mixing and matching ways to “de-stress” on the regular. This is not a “once and done” experience. These are lifestyle changes for life!
🙌Stressbuster Options🙌
👉Get regular exercise!
👉Engage in self care activities (ex: a long soaking bath or a massage)
👉Prayer, meditation, and/or quiet time with no electronic or television distractions
👉Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (aka CBT) . This can be a very valuable tool, especially if you find yourself trending in negative thinking patterns. I would really recommend picking up Dr. Caroline Leaf’s book and workbook, “Who Switched Off My Brain? Controlling toxic thoughts and emotions” to begin diving deeper into this subject.
👉Journal. Write out your thoughts instead of letting them fester in your mind. Create a gratitude journal, write a letter you’ll never send to someone, or begin success journaling)
👉Turn off social media and electronics as often as your day allows.
👉Limit scrolling time
👉Get outside as much as possible and connect with nature. Go barefoot or get your hands on plants and in soil. (Grounding! ….. We’ve talked about this in previous posts)
👉Read something relaxing and nontriggering (ex: a work of fiction). Allow your brain to wander within the pages of the book.
👉Engage in Yoga, pilates, Tai Chi (soooo many health benefits!)
👉Practice breathing exercises ( left nostril breathing or box breathing are both excellent breathing patterns to quiet the mind)
Improve your sleep in both quality and quantity (we talked about that last week)
👉Try salt water floatation therapy for deep relaxation
👉Listen to 432 Hz frequency healing music ( check out the company WholeTones for more info!)
👉Laugh! It releases endorphins.
👉Spend time with a pet. Did you know that a cat’s purring frequency corresponds with established healing frequencies in therapeutic medicine for humans?
👉Practice saying no to the things that bring stress, and saying yes to the things that will bring joy.
👉Avoid procrastination and just do the thing. Learn time management techniques and goal setting.
👉Eat healthy nourishing foods
👉Engage in a hobby
👉Connect with actual people in a community….. In person. We are not created to be an island.
👉Examine your values and beliefs and then live by them. An enormous amount of internal stress comes from living differently from your beliefs and values.
👉Oils and Supplements. We have so many amazing tools to help us navigate stress:
🌿Lavender, Vetiver (Yes, it doesn’t smell great, so apply to bottoms of feet!), Bergamot, Roman Chamomile, Frankincense, Sandalwood, Ylang Ylang, Orange, and Geranium are just a few oils known for their calming qualities.
🌿Young Living has created an amazing array of perfectly blended oils to help add to the peace and tranquility in our lives: StressAway, Tranquil, RutaVala, Peace and Calming, and Valor are just a few that come to mind.
🌿An herb called Ashwagandha is known for its beautiful ability to lower symptoms of stress in the body. It is one of the important ingredients in Young Living’s EndoGize (typically for women) and PowerGize (formulated for men).
🌿Young Living’s Calm CBD Roll-on is another fantastic tool to help relax and quiet the mind. Have you tried it yet? Be sure to find and follow Dr. Oliver Wenker MD, DEAA, ABAARM, FAARFM, MBA on his website and social media to learn in depth information on all things CBD.

Unfortunately, many doctors don’t recommend steps to help mitigate stress in a patient’s life. Nearly 20% of adults age 18 or older are on medication💊 for symptoms related to stress. A patient may present with anxiety, depression, or any of the other stress related clues we’ve talked about, and a prescription is written without any further discussion (and often, without comprehensive lab work being ordered to ensure there’s not also an imbalance somewhere in the body causing the symptoms). There will always be a time and a place for medication as a final option, but patients need to be fully aware of the problems that lie with using medication long term as a coping mechanism.
💊Many of the medications used to treat symptoms of stress are highly addictive. Additionally, these medications have the capacity to impact brain function when taken over extended periods of time.
💊According to a study published in 2010 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, one of the most common classes of drugs (SSRI’s) used to treat mild to moderate anxiety and depression was “unable to outperform placebos for moderate symptoms of depression”. So…. there’s that.
💊All of the medications used to mediate stress symptoms have side effect profiles that may well require a 2nd or 3rd medication to help manage the side effects of the initial medication.
💊Very few studies on the effects of a polypharmacy (using multiple medications concurrently) lifestyle exist, yet we know that prescription drugs are the 3rd leading cause of death in the USA (after heart disease and cancer)…… (Don’t let anyone tell you that essential oils and herbs are dangerous!😉).
💊There is no way of measuring serotonin (the primary “happy” neurotransmitter) in the brain of a living person, nor is there a “normal level” of serotonin we should all have to be emotionally healthy. People with high serotonin levels can still be depressed, and people with low serotonin levels can still be happy and joy filled. Indeed, we are largely the masters of our own emotional state.
💊Many medications used to treat symptoms of stress should be used in caution with people who have preexisting extreme mood disorders, diabetes, kidney, liver, or heart disease, or pregnancy (due to risk of miscarriage, congenital heart disease, or persistent pulmonary hypertension of the baby).

We have so many low cost (to free!) tools available to us when it comes to how we choose to deal with stress, and as you’ve hopefully seen, most are very pleasant options with no icky side effects.
Use the two stress surveys📊 you now have on hand to check yourself periodically, and then evaluate your self care / fun quotient. Your future self will thank you!
xoxo~ liz

#sharingiscaring
#beingwellinformedisgoodmedicine
#ThanksYL
#fearfullywonderfullyjoyfullymade
(PS: if anyone needs a stress relieving kitten, I’ve got 4 fosters looking for a home! )

Chronic Stress Damage- part 2

Liz James · November 23, 2021 ·

Prior to 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared stress the “Health Epidemic of the 21st Century”. The ramifications of chronic stress costs American businesses an estimated $300 billion dollars annually, though that stat is a pretty cold way to look at stress… from a purely financial perspective. Numerous studies show that job stress is the leading cause of stress for American adults. Other triggers include finances, relationships, parenting, and trauma…. Oh, and let’s not forget simply living through 2020/2021.

Unpacking stress as a clue is like peeling back the layers of an onion. What actually happens to a body that is chronically stressed?

Initially, we may feel the effects of adrenaline and cortisol being released. The heart speeds up, digestion slows down, the blood supply shunts blood to major muscle groups, and fight or flight kicks in. In normal situations, the perceived threat eventually leaves and we relax and recover.

In a state of chronic stress, this scenario doesn’t happen the way it should, and some real problematic changes in the body occur.

The brain actually begins to decrease in both size and weight😳. Ultimately this affects both cognition and memory. The basal ganglia and the pre frontal cortex are especially affected by these changes. The basal ganglia is involved in the processing of information related to emotions, motivations, and movement, while the pre frontal cortex is responsible for “executive decision making”….. The ability to differentiate between conflicting thoughts, identifying good from bad, predictions of outcomes, expectations based on actions, and the ability to suppress urges. This area of the brain dictates our personality, goals and values. As you might imagine, over time, chronic stress plays a very real role in brain disorders like Alzheimers, Parkinsons, and dystonia.

Unmitigated chronic stress affects the immune system by activating low grade inflammation🔥 throughout the body. It may take years to develop, but strong evidence suggests that low grade inflammation eventually triggers dis-eases such as rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease, colitis, IBS, psoriasis, fibromyalgia, lupus, MS, diabetes, cancer, and other autoimmune disorders.

Additionally, this stress affects the production of blood cells needed to effectively fight off illnesses.

Chronic stress also alters the activity of:

🔥The hypothalamus (libido, behavior, emotions, body temperature, weight, and sleep/wake cycle.
🔥The pituitary (which largely controls both the adrenals and thyroid)
🔥The adrenal glands (produce hormones that help regulate your metabolism, immune system, blood pressure, and how we respond to stress). Even a minimal amount of stress can activate the adrenal glands.
🔥Growth hormones (can be halted during severe stress)
Additionally, chronic stress can lead to malignancies, genetic instability (epigenetics… the role our environment plays in gene expression), and tumor growth by effectively decreasing the activity of the normal systems within the body that keeps aberrant (cancer) cells from growing.
Digestive disorders are also a common physical symptom of chronic stress, including changes in motility, increased intestinal permeability,and inflammation in the form of Crohns, ulcerative colitis, and IBS.

Chronic stress is no joke when it comes to its impact on health, and not a single person is immune to the effects of it. This is why it is incredibly important to have a plan of action to care for yourself and encourage others to do the same.

We are all built incredibly differently, and stress will ultimately expose the unique weakness that is within each one of us. This is why it is so very important that we know and understand our bodies well, so that we can support it in the manner that best serves us.

Sleep😴 is our body’s only true time of repair and recovery. If you are not getting at least 7 hours of sleep a night, make that a priority. If quality sleep is not happening, work on sleep hygiene and habits to improve your zzzzzz’s.
👉Stop screen time well before bed and keep electronics out of the bedroom (pineal gland disruption).
👉Get 10-20 minutes of full sunlight during the day.
👉Keep sleeping temperature at less than 70 degrees F.
👉Take an epsom salt bath before bed…. Add in Lavender, Frankincense, Peace and Calming, Cedarwood or Sandalwood to the salts.
👉Consider diffusing with any of the calming oils!
👉Exercise earlier in the day, and consider restorative yoga or meditation before bed.
👉Avoid artificial sweeteners (they can cause insomnia!)
👉Support a healthy night’s sleep with either YL’s Immupro chewable tablets or Sleep Essence capsules.

Next week I will cover some strategies for coping with chronic stress.
xoxo~ liz

#sharingiscaring
#takecareofyourself
#ThanksYL